Sensor-embedded ball and system

ABSTRACT

A ball with a sensor incorporated therein is provided. The ball includes a first sensor including a multiaxial acceleration sensor, a first communication unit for wireless transmission of sensor data detected by the first sensor, and a battery for supplying electric power to the first sensor and the first communication unit. The first sensor includes a first multiaxial acceleration sensor housed at a position intended to be a center of gravity of the ball. Each of the first communication unit and the battery is arranged at a position out of the position intended to be a center of gravity.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a system including a ball with a sensorincorporated therein.

BACKGROUND ART

Patent Document 1 discloses a system having a ball with a first sensorincorporated therein. It includes a triaxial acceleration sensor orothers. The ball includes a first communication unit for wirelesstransmission of sensor data detected by the first sensor. The systemalso has a mobile terminal. It includes a second communication unit tobe paired with the first communication unit.

The mobile terminal includes a unit for acquiring external information.It indicates environment in which the paired ball moves alone. And, theterminal also includes a unit for associating the sensor data of thepaired ball, which is obtained via the first communication unit and thesecond communication unit, with the external information to generateball movement data of the paired ball.

PRIOR ART DOCUMENTS Patent Literature

Patent Document 1: WO 2017/131133 A

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical Problem

A system is required which can easily, as well as accurately, detect andrecord movement of a ball.

In order to accurately detect movement of the ball, it is conceivable tohave hardware incorporated therein, which includes a wide variety ofsensors. In addition to the sensors, however, a control equipment and abattery for making them in operation must also be incorporated in theball. They are arranged in consideration of weight and balance.

Solution to Problem

One aspect of the present invention is a ball. It includes a firstsensor including a multiaxial acceleration sensor, a first communicationunit for wireless transmission of sensor data detected by the firstsensor, and a battery for supplying electric power to the first sensorand the first communication unit.

In this ball, the first sensor includes a first multiaxial accelerationsensor housed at a position intended to be a center of gravity of theball. Each of the first communication unit and the battery is arrangedat a position out of the position intended to be a center of gravity.

In a ball or other spinning objects, preferential arrangement of abattery or other heavy objects at the center of gravity thereof makes iteasy to reduce influence on spinning performance.

Accordingly, in a case that an acceleration sensor is incorporated inthe ball, the acceleration sensor is arranged at a position out of thecenter of gravity thereof. When die ball spins during flight,centrifugal force causes acceleration acting as noise. It is often thatthe acceleration of the flight motion cannot be distinguished from thenoise.

The inventors of the present application have found that this inhibitseffective utilization of data of the acceleration sensor for analysis ofmovement of the ball during flight.

The number of rotations and the spinning axis during flight can beobtained by analyzing data of the multiaxial magnetic sensor, asdisclosed in Patent Document 1. However, it is difficult even toaccurately find out the flight distance without obtaining theacceleration of the flight motion.

In the ball of the present invention, the battery and the firstcommunication unit are displaced from the position intended to be acenter of gravity. And, the multiaxial acceleration sensor is arrangedat the position intended to be a center of gravity. This enables tosuppress influence of the centrifugal force, and thereby to acquire dataincluding the acceleration of the flight motion.

The battery, the circuit board or others can be arranged at positionsdispersed near the position intended to be a center of gravity, orsymmetrical with respect to the position intended to be a center ofgravity. The battery can also be divided into a plurality of small onesto be arranged in the same manner. One or more counterweights can bearranged in the same manner. These enables to suppress influence onspinning performance of the ball.

The multiaxial acceleration sensor arranged at the position intended tobe a center of gravity realizes to suppress influence of the centrifugalforce, and thereby to facilitate to obtain the acceleration of theflight motion from the data of the first multiaxial acceleration sensor.

In the ball having a core body which forms a central portion of the balland which is made of rubber, cork, polystyrene foam or others, the firstsensor, the first communication unit and the battery can be incorporatedin the core body. Or, they can be sealed with a mold (or resin).

The first sensor can include a plurality of second multiaxialacceleration sensors arranged adjacent to the first multiaxialacceleration sensor arranged at the position intended to be a center ofgravity.

In a manufacturing process, the position intended to be a center ofgravity may slightly deviate (or shift) from designed one.

In addition, the ball may be slightly deformed during flight. This maycause the centrifugal force to greatly affect the data from the firstmultiaxial acceleration sensor.

The plurality of second multiaxial acceleration sensors arranged nearthe position intended to be a center of gravity enables to utilize dataof the sensor the least affected by the centrifugal force. Also,obtained simultaneously from a plurality of acceleration sensors aroundthe center of gravity enables also to remove a noise component caused bythe centrifugal force.

The plurality of second multiaxial acceleration sensors can be arrangedso that the first multiaxial acceleration sensor is at a body centerposition of them.

The plurality of second multiaxial acceleration sensors can be arrangedat apices of a regular tetrahedron, or arranged at apices of a regularhexahedron.

The battery, the circuit board and other parts having relatively largeweight (or mass) can be arranged around the position intended to be acenter of gravity, and at apices of a regular tetrahedron, a regularhexahedron or other regular polygons with the position intended to be acenter of gravity being at a body center thereof.

Another aspect of the present invention is a system. It has a mobileterminal that includes a second communication unit to be paired with thefirst communication unit of the above-described ball.

The mobile terminal includes a unit for generating ball movement data ofthe paired ball based on data of the first sensor of the paired ballobtained via the first communication unit and the second communicationunit. And, it also includes a first function for using the data of thefirst sensor to calculate at least one of acceleration of flight motion,flight distance, and displacement amount during flight, concerning thepaired ball.

The data from the acceleration sensor enables to trace movement of theball during flight.

The first sensor can include a multiaxial magnetic sensor and/or amultiaxial gyro sensor. The mobile terminal can generate ball movementdata including data from these sensors.

In a case that the first sensor includes a plurality of multiaxialacceleration sensors, the first function can include a function forusing data of at least one of the plurality of multiaxial accelerationsensors included in the first sensor to cancel acceleration componentcaused by spinning of the paired ball.

The mobile terminal can include a unit for using at least one of theacceleration, the flight distance and the displacement amount to outputa pitch type of the paired ball.

The mobile terminal can include a simulator for displaying appearanceviewed from outside in a state in which the ball is moving, based on theball movement data.

The mobile terminal can include a unit for causing a cloud server tostore the ball movement data via the Internet.

Another aspect of the present invention is a method. In it, movement ofa ball is monitored via a mobile terminal.

In the method, the first communication unit of the ball and the secondcommunication unit of the mobile terminal are paired. And, the mobileterminal uses data of the first sensor of the paired ball, which isobtained via the first communication unit and the second communicationunit, to calculate at least one of acceleration of flight motion, flightdistance and displacement amount during flight, concerning the pairedball.

Another aspect of the present invention is a program. It is intended tobe downloaded into a mobile terminal including a second communicationunit to be paired with a first communication unit of a ball. It has afirst sensor incorporated therein and including a multiaxialacceleration sensor, and the first communication unit incorporatedtherein for wireless transmission of sensor data detected by the firstsensor.

This program includes instructions that cause the mobile terminal tofunction as a unit for using data of the first sensor of the pairedball, which is obtained via the first communication unit and the secondcommunication unit, to calculate at least one of acceleration of flightmotion, flight distance and displacement amount during flight,concerning the paired ball.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a system using a ball with asensor incorporated therein;

FIG. 2 is a view illustrating schematic configuration of the ball with asensor incorporated therein;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration ofhardware incorporated therein;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating functions implemented in themobile terminal to be paired with the ball with a sensor incorporatedtherein; and

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating summarized processes of anapplication in the mobile terminal.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates au example of a system including a ballwith a sensor incorporated therein. The system converts a pitch of auser into data to manage it via a cloud service.

This system 1 is a system in which a sensor incorporated in the ball 10converts a state of a ball (or pitching) 5 that a user 2 pitches from amound 3 toward a catcher 4 to data. It is managed from a cloud 30 viathe mobile terminal 20 of the user.

The cloud 30 includes a computer network 31 such as the Internet, aserver 35 connected to the computer network 31, and an online coachingsystem 40 connected to the computer network 31.

The server (or cloud server) 35 includes a user management function 36,a storage 37 for accumulating data for each user, a data management unit38, and a data analysis unit 39 for performing ranking tabulation orothers.

The online coaching system 40 includes a simulator 41 for using the dataaccumulated for each user in the server 35 to reproduce pitching of theuser. And, it also includes a unit 43 for providing advice by a coach 42with respect to the reproduced pitching of the user via the computernetwork 31.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of the ball 10 with a sensor incorporatedtherein.

One example of the ball 10 is a baseball (or a regulation ball).

The ball 10 includes a core (or core body) 11 at a center thereof, whichhouses a capsule 13 containing hardware inside it and is made of rubberor cork. It also includes a wound yarn portion 12 a covering around thecore 11, in the same manner as a normal baseball. Further, it includes aleather cover 12 b covering them at the outermost.

The core 11 includes a spherical capsule 13 made of resin which housesthe hardware. It also includes an elastic layer, e.g., a rubber layer 11a, covering the capsule 13.

The hardware is housed in the capsule 13. It is, in turn, covered with amaterial 11 a, which is the same as one originally used for a core of aball. Thereby, the hardware is housed in the core 11. This enables toprovide a ball 10 that causes no misalignment of the core, or no largemisalignment of the core, even though it includes a sensor or otherhardware.

The capsule 13 houses a sensor (or first sensor) 80 for detectingmovement of the ball 10. It also houses a control board (or controlunit) 17 on which a communication unit or others are installed. Further,it houses batteries 18 a and 18 b. They are configured to be housed atpredesigned positions and postures. The capsule 13 is configured tocooperate with the rubber layer 11 a covering it, so as to make theentire weight and balance almost the same as those of a normal baseball(or regulation ball).

The capsule 13 can have a multilayer structure inside it. This enablesto house each of the parts in it at a predetermined location with apredetermined posture. The inside of the capsule 13 can be sealed with amolding resin or others, after housing them.

FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic configuration of the hardware including asensor 80 housed in the capsule 13.

The sensor (or first sensor, group of sensors) 80 includes multiaxial,e.g., triaxial, acceleration sensors 81 and 82 a to 82 c, It alsoincludes a multiaxial, e.g., triaxial, gyro sensor 85. Further, itincludes a multiaxial, e.g., triaxial, magnetic sensor 86. And, it alsoincludes a sensor board 88.

The control board 17 includes a short-range wireless communication unit(first communication unit, e.g., BLE (Bluetooth® Low Energy)) 17 a. Italso includes a microcomputer 17 h for control. Further, it includes amemory 17 c.

The capsule 13 includes a plurality of batteries 18 a and 18 b thatsupply electric power to the above-described hardware. It also includesa switch 16 for controlling on off of power supply.

In this example, in order to keep the weight and balance of the ball 10with a sensor incorporated therein substantially the same as that of aconventional ball, the configuration of the hardware housed in thecapsule 13 is simplified as much as possible. The batteries 18 a and 18b are built-in type and disposable.

If a function for wirelessly or otherwise indirectly charging thebattery becomes compact and lightweight enough to be housed within thecore 11, it is also possible to provide a non-disposable type of a ballwith a sensor incorporated therein.

In this example, the first sensor 80 houses the acceleration sensors 81and 82 a to 82 d, the gyro sensor 85, and the geomagnetic sensor 86,separately. However, it can house a nine-axis sensor including atriaxial acceleration sensor, a triaxial gyro sensor, and a triaxialgeomagnetic (or magnetic) sensor. It can also be a one-chip sensor.

The sensor 80 is arranged at the center 13 c of the interior of thecapsule 13. The center 13 c of the capsule 13 is at the center of thecore 11, i.e., the position intended as the center of gravity 10 g ofthe ball 10.

The two batteries 18 a and 18 b and the control board 17 are arrangedaround the sensor 80 so that the center 13 c of the capsule 13 is acenter of mass (or center of gravity).

For example, the batteries 18 a and 18 b and the control board 17 aswell as a counterweight (not shown) are arranged to abut on the innersurface of the spherical capsule 13 to form a substantially regulartetrahedron.

The arrangement inside the capsule 13 is not limited to this.Preferably, the sensor 80 is arranged at the center 13 c, and thebatteries 18 a and 18 b and other hardware are arranged so that balanceof their entire weight matches the center 13 c.

Preferably, the moment of inertia further matches.

The first sensor 80 includes a plurality of triaxial accelerationsensors 81 and 82 a to 82 d. The first acceleration sensor 81 isarranged at the center 13 c of the capsule 13, i.e., the positionintended to be a center of gravity 10 g of the ball 10. The four secondacceleration sensors 82 a, 82 h, 82 c and 82 d are arranged around thefirst acceleration sensor 81 and substantially adjacent to the firstacceleration sensor 81.

Specifically, the four second acceleration sensors 82 a to 82 d arearranged at positions of the apices of a regular tetrahedron, or atpositions near them. The first acceleration sensor 81, i.e., the center13 c is at its body center position.

In a case that the capsule 13 is housed with respect to the ball 10 inan intended manner, the center 13 c of the capsule 13 coincides with thecenter of gravity 10 g of the ball 10. Thereby, the first accelerationsensor 81 hardly detects the acceleration caused by the centrifugalforce, even though the ball 10 is spinning during flight.

Accordingly, the acceleration for the flight motion of the ball 10 canbe detected.

Meanwhile, in a case that the capsule 13 is not housed with respect tothe ball 10 in an intended manner, the center 13 c of the capsule 13 isshifted with respect to the center of gravity 10 g of the ball 10. It islikely that the center of gravity log is at a position between or amongthe first acceleration sensor 18 and one or more of the secondacceleration sensors 82 a to 82 d arranged around it, that the center ofgravity 10 g is at a position near one of the second accelerationsensors 82 a to 82 d, or that the center of gravity 10 g is at aposition between or among some of the second acceleration sensors 82 ato 82 d.

Accordingly, it may be possible to obtain acceleration data with alittle influence of the acceleration of the centrifugal force from oneof the second acceleration sensors 82 a to 82 d.

In addition, data obtained from the first acceleration sensor 81 and oneor more second acceleration sensors 82 a to 82 d may enable to canceldata related to the acceleration of the centrifugal force, and therebyto obtain acceleration data associated with the flight motion.

The number of the second acceleration sensors 82 a to 82 d can befurther increased, if a room is within the capsule 13. For example, theycan be arranged at apices of the hexahedron with the center 13 c of thecapsule 13 is at a body center position thereof.

In this ball 10, the power switch 16 is connected to one of theacceleration sensors 81 and 82 a to 82 d. When detecting that the ball.10 is thrown up and in a freefall state, it mediates electric powersupply from the batteries 18 a and 18 h to the control board 17 and theother sensors of the sensor 80. Thereby, a measurement state is started.

The motion causing to turn the power switch 16 on is not limited tofreefall. Other sensors can detect other motions, e.g., in which theball 10 is spun, or in which the ball 10 is took and swung.

When data indicating that the ball 10 is moving is not detected from thesensor 80 for a predetermined period of time, the power switch 16 stopssupplying electric power from the batteries 18 a and 18 b.

After the measurement is started, the microcomputer 17 b stores data (orsensor data) 51 detected by the sensor 80, e.g., the accelerations inthe three axial directions, and the angular velocities in the threeaxial directions, and the geomagnetisms in the three axial directions,into the memory 17 c at a predetermined sampling intervals.

After the measurement is terminated, the microcomputer 17 h outputs thestored sensor data 51 via the wireless communication unit 17 a.

FIG. 4 illustrates configuration of the mobile terminal 20.

One example of the mobile terminal 20 is a smartphone. It includes ashort-range wireless communication unit (or second communication unit,e.g., BLE (Bluetooth® Low Energy)) 21. It also includes a datacommunication unit 22 that sends and receives data via wireless LANand/or cellular phone communication networks. Further, it includes a GPS23 for positioning latitude and longitude. And, it includes anelectronic compass 24 that can determine orientation. Also, it includesan acceleration sensor 25. It further includes a processor 26 thatrealizes various functions. And, it includes a memory 27. It alsoincludes a display 28 a that is an input/output unit. Further, itincludes a touch sensor 28 h. And, it includes a voice input/output unit29.

The processor 26 follows instructions included in an application program(or APP, program, program product) 60 downloaded into the memory 27, toprovide a function as a terminal for generation of ball movement data,and/or a terminal for analysis of behavior (or flight status) of theball.

The processor 26 follows the program 60 to function as a unit 61 forpairing the communication unit (or first communication unit) 17 aincorporated in the ball 10 and the communication unit (or secondcommunication unit) 21 of the mobile terminal 20. It also functions as aunit 62 for acquiring external information 52 indicating the environmentin which the paired ball 10 moves alone. And, it further functions as aunit 63 for associating the sensor data 51 of the paired ball 10, whichis obtained via the communication units 17 a and 21, with the externalinformation 52 to generate ball movement data 55 of the paired ball 10.

The processor 26 further follows instructions included in theapplication program 60 to function as a unit 64 for analysis of theacceleration data of the ball 10. It also functions as a unit 65 foranalysis of the spinning of the ball 10. Further, it functions as a unit66 for outputting a pitch type based on the acceleration, an angle ofthe spinning axis, a ball velocity and the number of rotations of theball 10. And, it functions as a simulator 67 for displaying appearanceviewed from outside in a state in which the ball 10 is moving. Also, itfunctions as a unit 68 for analyzing a pitching motion. It furtherfunctions as a unit 69 for causing the ball movement data 55 made byintegrating the sensor data 51 and the external information 52 to bestored (or uploaded) into the cloud server 35 via the Internet 31. And,it functions as a unit 70 for displaying a content supplied from thecloud server 35.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart of a schematic process (or method) foractivating an application 60, acquiring sensor data 51 from the pairedball 10 via the mobile terminal 20, and generating hail movement data 55of the paired ball 10, as well as analyzing movement of the paired ball10.

In Step 101, the ball 10 with a sensor incorporated therein and a mobileterminal 20 are paired.

Specifically, the pairing unit 61 of the mobile terminal 20 pairs thefirst communication unit 17 a incorporated in the hall 10 and the secondcommunication unit 21 of the mobile terminal 20.

This establishes unique correspondence between the specific ball 10 andthe specific mobile terminal 20. Thereby, the external information 52input into the paired mobile terminal 20 is associated with the sensordata 51 of the paired ball 10 in a one-to-one manner.

One mobile terminal 20 can be paired with a plurality of balls 10. Inthat case, a ball 10 to be pitched is selected from the paired balls 10,in Step 102.

Once the pairing sets one-to-one relationship between the mobileterminal 20 and the ball 10, external information 52 indicating theenvironment in which the ball 10 moves alone is acquired, in Step 103.

The unit 62 for acquiring external information acquires a pitchingdistance, a pitching direction, and position information (or latitudeand longitude), as the external information 52 from the screen of themobile terminal 20, a GPS 23 or others.

The position information concerning the pitching can indicate a positionof pitching (or a mound). It can indicate a position of catching (or ahome base). Or, it can indicate a position between them. It can indicateeven a position that does not significantly away from the flight path ofthe ball 10.

The “pitching direction” can be automatically acquired by the unit 62using the electronic compass 24 of the mobile terminal 20 to displayorientation in which the mobile terminal 20 is facing, and by matchingthe direction of the mobile terminal 20 and the pitching direction.

After the external information 52 is set to the mobile terminal 20, the“start pitching” button displayed on the mobile terminal 20 is clicked,in Step 104.

This operation causes to send a command for starting to acquire thesensor data 51 and to store them into the memory 16 c, from the mobileterminal 20 to the paired ball 10 via the second communication unit 21and the first communication unit 17 a.

After the pitching is over, the user 2 clicks the “pitching finished”displayed on the screen of the mobile terminal 20, in Step 105.

This operation causes to send a command for terminating the acquisitionof the sensor data 51, from the mobile terminal 20 to the paired ball 10via the second communication unit 21 and the first communication unit 17a.

At the same time, a command is sent for sending the sensor data 51stored in the memory 16 c to the mobile terminal 20. The generating unit63, which is a function implemented by the application program 60 intothe mobile terminal 20, acquires the sensor data 51 from the ball 10.

Hereinafter, the function implemented by the application program (orprogram product) 60 will be described as a function of the mobileterminal 20.

In Step 106, the generating unit 63 of the mobile terminal 20 associatesthe sensor data 51 acquired from the ball 10 and the externalinformation 52 input into the mobile terminal 20 to generate ballmovement data (or movement data) 55 of the paired ball 10.

The sensor data 51 includes acceleration data in three axial directions,gyro (or angular velocity) data in three axial directions, andgeomagnetic data in three axial directions.

The external information 52 includes a pitching distance that the ball10 moves, i.e., a distance from the mound 3 to the catcher 4, a pitchingdirection, and latitude and longitude information.

The ball movement data 55 can include the sensor data 51 as raw data, oras platinized or standardized data using the external information 52.

The sensor data 51 is information (or internal information) that can beacquired by the sensor 80 inside the ball 10. It is informationnecessary to reproduce movement of the ball 10 itself.

In order to reproduce the movement of the ball 10 with respect to theoutside world, it is desirable to be able to acquire information such asa pitching distance, a pitching direction, and latitude and longitudeinformation.

Meanwhile, in the hall 10 of the present example, the acceleration,which is a vector quantity, concerning the motion of the center ofgravity of the ball as a mass point can be measured with eliminatinginfluence of spinning. This enables to accurately find out theacceleration of the flight motion, which is acceleration as a vectorquantity including the direction.

Thus, it is possible to use the acceleration to find out a flightdistance, and/or to find out transition of the flight motion (ordisplacement amount which is a vector quantity including direction andamount).

Also, information of the geomagnetism can be acquired with thegeomagnetic sensor 86 incorporated in the ball 10.

Thus, it can be reproduced from the sensor data 51 how the ball 10 ismoving with respect to the outside world.

In addition, verification of the information obtained by the sensor 80of the ball 10 with the information obtained by the mobile terminal 20,and complementation of information not obtained by the sensor 80 of theball 10 by some condition with the information obtained by the terminal20 is important for evaluating the information and ensuring stability ofthe system 1.

In Step 107, the uploading unit 69 of the mobile terminal 20 uploads themovement data 55 to the cloud server 35 via the data communication unit22.

The movement data 55 of this example includes the external information52 for analyzing the pitching, and raw data (or RawData) which is thesensor data 51 as it is acquired from the sensor 80.

Accordingly, uploading the movement data 55 to the cloud server 35enables to analyze the movement data 55 in a variety of manners, and toutilize the moving data 55 for a wide variety of applications.

In addition, if analysis methods are improved, this will enable toreanalyze the movement data 55 in the improved methods.

In this mobile terminal 20, in addition to uploading the movement data55, the pitching can be evaluated in situ in Step 108, based on theinformation obtained from the sensor data 51 and the externalinformation 52.

The pitching can be analyzed and evaluated based on the movement data 55including the sensor data 51 and the external information 52, andaccumulated in the memory 27. The pitching can be analyzed and evaluatedbased on the sensor data 51 and the external information 52 obtained atthat time.

The evaluating step 108 includes a step 108 a for analyzingacceleration, a step 108 b for analyzing spin, and a step 108 c forfinding out pitch type.

In the analyzing step 108 a of acceleration, the unit 64 for analyzingacceleration evaluates and analyzes the data of the acceleration sensors81 and 82 a to 82 d included in the sensor data 51.

In a case that noise (or ripple) is determined as small, which is causedby the centrifugal force and included in the data of the firstacceleration sensor 81 arranged at the position intended as the centerof gravity 10 g of the ball 10, enough not to affect obtaining data ofthe acceleration caused by air resistance during flight or others, thedata of the acceleration is used to find out transition of velocity withrespect to the flight distance of the ball 10 during flight.

In a case that the acceleration data includes acceleration data in adirection in which the flight motion changes, the data is integrated tofind out displacement (or displacement amount) of the flight motion.

On the other hand, in a case that the unit 64 for analyzing accelerationdetermines that noise (or ripple) is large, which is caused by thecentrifugal force and included in the data of the first accelerationsensor 81, it evaluates data of the second acceleration sensors 82 a to82 d.

The unit 64 either employs the data of the acceleration sensor with thesmallest noise of the plurality of acceleration sensors 82 a to 82 d, oruses the data of the plurality of acceleration sensors to perform aprocess for canceling noise (or acceleration component) caused by thecentrifugal force. Thereby, it generates acceleration data of the flightmotion of the hall 10.

In Step 108 b for analyzing spin, the unit 65 for analyzing spin findsout to what extent (or how many times) the ball 10 has spun in themovement period.

Specifically, it calculates the number of rotations Pr based on thenumber of oscillations of the geomagnetic data of the sensor data 51.

In a case that the ball 10 spins perpendicular to the geomagnetism, thenumber of rotations Pr cannot be acquired. However, the case hardlyoccurs when the target is a ball pitched by a pitcher.

In step 108 c for finding out a pitch type, the unit 66 for finding outa pitch type finds out what angle the spinning axis of the ball 10 haswith respect to the horizontal plane and the travelling direction of theball 10.

In addition, it refers to the acceleration transition and thedisplacement amount during flight of the ball 10 to find out the pitchtype.

For example, it is enabled that a displacement amount at hand of thecatcher expresses how degree the ball has curved leftward, rightward,upward, or downward in comparison with freefall motion under vacuum,after the ball is released from the hand of the pitcher until the ballreaches the catcher.

In addition, since the acceleration in the flight direction of the ball10 can also be measured, the deceleration of the ball or others can alsobe calculated. Thereby, transition of velocity including “initialvelocity” and “final velocity” can also be observed.

Accurate measurement of the acceleration of the flight motion enables toknow the velocity of the ball during flight. Thereby, the flyingdistance and velocity of the balls 10 can be measured without externalinput of the flying distance.

Thus, the velocity can be measured for a free distance.

The method described in Patent Document 1 can be used for finding outthe magnetic dip from the geomagnetic sensor 86 or the positioninformation included in the external information 52, analyzing the dataof the geomagnetic sensor 86, and finding out the number of rotationsand the direction of the spinning axis.

The pitch type determination unit 66 uses the ball velocity Pv, thenumber of rotations Pr, and the angle of the spinning axis to identify apitching type of the pitched ball 10.

In Step 108 for evaluating the pitching, the evaluation is not limitedfor the latest pitching. The evaluation can also be performed for apitching accumulated in the mobile terminal 20. Further, the evaluationcan also be performed for a past pitching in the same manner asdescribed above by downloading data of the pitching from the cloudserver 35.

In addition, in Step 109, the simulator 67 simulates and displaysmovement of the ball 10 viewed from outside based on the ball movementdata 55.

Further, in Step 110, the unit 68 for analyzing the pitching motion canutilize information of the sensor data 51 before the ball 10 isreleased, to evaluate the pitching motion.

The application 60 (or mobile terminal 20) further includes a unit 70for supplying content.

This unit 70 provides a result of analysis of the movement data 55 foreach user collected in the cloud server 35, a result of rankingtabulation for all users, a result of comparison with the pitching ofthe professional baseball player, or others, via the mobile terminal 20to the user 2.

In a case that the ball is intended to spin at high speed, the maximumnumber of rotations is expected to be about 3500 rpm, e.g., in aregulation ball applicable for professional baseball. Considering themeasurement range of the current acceleration sensor, the error of theacceleration sensor 81 from the center of gravity 10 g is needed to beset to about 1 mm or less.

In a case that the size of the acceleration sensor is about 2 mm, it isdifficult to arrange the plurality of acceleration sensors in or aroundthe area intend to be the center of gravity 10 g.

In a case that the acceleration sensor 81 is arranged at the center ofgravity 10 g but there is a small displacement, the centrifugal force isdetected when the ball 10 is spinning. However, when it falls within themeasurement range of the acceleration sensor 81, the centrifugal forcecan be canceled by numerical processing.

In addition, it is also important to realize the same physicalproperties as the ball core of an actual regulation ball in theprofessional baseball.

Therefore, it is important that the acceleration sensor 81 is placed tothe center of gravity 10 g, the center of gravity 10 g and the center 13c of the core 11 coincides, the moments of inertia of the hardwarewithin the capsule 13 and the capsule 13 itself around the center ofgravity 10 g are equal in all axes, and the mass of the core 11including the capsule 13 is equal to the regulated value (currently 20g).

Desirably, hardness, elasticity, damping rate of the vibration, andother properties of the core 11 are the same as those of the regulationball of the professional baseball specification, or within the regulatedrange.

Therefore, it is preferable to consider that the circuit board 88 withthe acceleration sensor 81 installed is arranged on the plane passingthrough the center of gravity 10 g, the component-side face of thecircuit board 88 (a face on which the acceleration sensor is arranged)faces toward the cell 18 a or 18 b to be arranged as closely to thecenter of gravity 10 g as possible, or the circuit board 88 is providedwith a hole for installing the acceleration sensor 81 therein to bearranged as close to the center of gravity 10 g as possible, only theacceleration sensor 81 is arranged on a flexible circuit board to bearranged as close to the center of gravity 10 g as possible, and so on.

A sensor device may be provided with the gyro sensor 85 and/or thegeomagnetic sensor 86 as a sensor other than the acceleration sensor 81.What is needed to be designed to be arranged at the center of gravity 10g is not the center of the sensor device, but the acceleration sensor 81within the sensor device.

The number of the batteries can also be one. In that case, it ispreferable to arrange the battery out of a range in which it interfereswith the acceleration sensor 81, but as close to the center of gravity10 g as possible, so as to reduce the moment of inertia around thecenter of gravity.

In a case that two batteries 18 a and 18 b are used, it is preferable tosandwich the acceleration sensor 81, which is arranged at the center ofgravity 10 g, between them. Thereby, they are arranged as close to thecenter of gravity 10 g as possible, so as to reduce the moment ofinertia around the center of gravity.

Further, it is preferable to adjust the thickness of the outer shellrubber Ha covering the outside of the capsule casing 13 in threedimensions by moldings, so as to balance of the moment of inertia aroundthe center of gravity 10 g.

Further, it is also possible to adjust the wall thickness of the capsulecasing 13 in three dimensions within a range in which its strength isnot affected, so as to balance the moment of inertia.

It is also preferable to arrange one or more counterweights so that themoment of inertia around the center of gravity is equal.

In a case that the ball is allowed to adjust the center of gravity aftermanufacture by repositioning the position of the core 11, by arrangingthe counterweight, by repositioning the position of the counterweight,or otherwise, the position of the center of gravity can be adjusted byspinning the ball and verifying the output of the acceleration sensor 81arranged at the position intended to be a center of gravity 10 g.

In addition, in a case that the ball is allowed to adjust the positionof the capsule 13, which houses the acceleration sensor or otherhardware, the position of the capsule 13 can be finely adjusted byspinning the ball and verifying the output of the acceleration sensor 81arranged at the position intended to be a center of gravity 10 g.

The above example is described for a baseball with a sensor incorporatedtherein. However, it should be noted that the baseball can be hard orsoft, also may be a softball.

In addition, the present invention can be applied by incorporating asensor at the center (or the center of gravity) of a ball for cricket, aball for bowling, a golf ball, a football, a volleyball, or a ball forother sports, in a golf ball, it can be used for training of putting, inwhich the impact applied to the ball is low, for example.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

-   -   10: Ball.

1. A ball comprising: a first sensor including a multiaxial accelerationsensor; a first communication unit for wireless transmission of sensordata detected by the first sensor; and a battery for supplying electricpower to the first sensor and the first communication unit, wherein thefirst sensor includes a first multiaxial acceleration sensor housed at aposition intended to be a center of gravity of the hall, and whereineach of the first communication unit and the battery is arranged at aposition out of the position intended to be a center of gravity.
 2. Theball of claim 1, further comprising a core body forming a centralportion of the ball, wherein the first sensor, the first communicationunit and the battery are incorporated in the core body.
 3. The ball ofclaim 1, wherein the first sensor includes a plurality of secondmultiaxial acceleration sensors arranged adjacent to the firstmultiaxial acceleration sensor arranged at the position intended to be acenter of gravity.
 4. The ball of claim 3, wherein the plurality ofsecond multiaxial acceleration sensors include a plurality of secondmultiaxial acceleration sensors arranged so that the first multiaxialacceleration sensor is at a body center position thereof.
 5. A systemcomprising a mobile terminal that includes a second communication unitto be paired with the first communication unit of the ball according toclaim 1, wherein the mobile terminal includes: a unit for generatingball movement data of the paired ball, based on data obtained from thefirst sensor of the paired ball via the first communication unit and thesecond communication unit; and a first function for using the data fromthe first sensor to calculate at least one of acceleration of flightmotion, flight distance, and displacement amount during flight,concerning the paired ball.
 6. The system of claim 5, wherein the firstsensor includes a plurality of multiaxial acceleration sensors, andwherein the first function includes a function for using data of atleast one of the plurality of multiaxial acceleration sensors includedin the first sensor to cancel an acceleration component caused byspinning of the paired ball.
 7. The system of claim 5, wherein themobile terminal includes a unit for using at least one of theacceleration, the flight distance and the displacement amount to outputa pitch type of the paired ball.
 8. The system of claim 5, wherein themobile terminal includes a simulator for displaying appearance viewedfrom outside in a state in which the ball is moving, based on the ballmovement data.
 9. The system of claim 5, wherein the mobile terminalincludes a unit for causing a cloud server to store the ball movementdata via the Internet.
 10. A system comprising a ball according toclaim
 1. 11. A method for monitoring movement of a ball via a mobileterminal, the ball including a first sensor that includes a firstmultiaxial acceleration sensor housed at a position intended to be acenter of gravity of the ball, and a first communication unit forwireless transmission of sensor data detected by the first sensor, themobile terminal including a second communication unit, the methodcomprising: pairing the first communication unit of the ball and thesecond communication unit of the mobile terminal, and using, by themobile terminal, data of the first sensor of the paired ball obtainedvia the first communication unit and the second communication unit tocalculate at least one of acceleration of flight motion, flight distanceand displacement amount during flight, concerning the paired ball. 12.The method of claim 11, wherein the first sensor includes a plurality ofsecond multiaxial acceleration sensors arranged adjacent to the firstmultiaxial acceleration sensor, and wherein the calculating includesusing data of at least one of the plurality of the multiaxialacceleration sensors included in the first sensor to cancel anacceleration component caused by spinning of the paired ball.
 13. Themethod of claim 11, further comprising using at least one of theacceleration, the flight distance and the displacement amount todetermine a pitch type of the paired balls.
 14. A program to bedownloaded into a mobile terminal including a second communication unitto be paired with a first communication unit of a ball having a firstsensor incorporated therein and including a multiaxial accelerationsensor and the first communication unit incorporated therein forwireless transmission of sensor data detected by the first sensor, theprogram comprising instructions that cause the mobile terminal tofunction as a unit for using data of the first sensor of the paired ballobtained via the first communication unit and the second communicationunit to calculate at least one of acceleration of flight motion, flightdistance and displacement amount during flight, concerning the pairedball.